Stunning Cosmic photoshots Document Astronaut Scott Kelly's First Six Months in Space

Astronaut Scott Kelly is on his way to becoming the first American to travel on the world's longest spaceflight. Since his launch in spring 2015, the commander has been documenting this extraterrestrial journey with a series of artistic snapshots. Some feature Earth from an extreme bird's-eye view and make our planet seem as though it's a completely different world. Others represent outer space's most stunning light sources, including colorful auroras and the illustrious Milky Way. Since Kelly recently reached the halfway point of his year-long journey, this means that we can look forward to seeing many more otherworldly images in the future.

Above—September 5, 2015: "Color palette of the Spanish coast is an appealing morning view."

July 19, 2015: "Bahamas, the strokes of your watercolors are always a refreshing sight."


June 9, 2015: "The green fields of Southeast Asia."


April 27, 2015: “Sometimes Earth looks like another planet.”


July 12, 2015: "Athens, Greece. Good morning from the International Space Station. Wishing you the best."


August 4, 2015: “The thing about abstract art: it appears not of this world. The thing about Earth art: it is our world.”


June 22, 2015: "Interesting how meaningless squiggles are until they stand for something else."


June 14, 2015: "There seems to be more green in the African desert lately. This is a good thing."


August 28, 2015 "Day 154. Aurora's purple glow adds mystery to the nights cape."

July 13, 2015: "Good morning, Aurora! Good to see you again."


July 6, 2015: "A rainbow of Earth's colors."


July 9, 2015: “Earth without art is just Eh.”


July 28, 2015: "Peru, your Andes mountains always impress!"


September 6, 2015: "Our magnificent modern Earth."


August 17, 2015: "Woke up to the snows of Kilimanjaro."


July 25, 2015: "Good evening, Japan."


September 17, 2015: "Sometimes the absence of color is the most striking color on Earth."


August 9, 2015: "Day 135. Milky Way. You're old, dusty, gassy and warped. But beautiful. Good night from the International Space Station!"


August 10, 2015: "Good morning to those in the western USA. Looks like there's a lot going on down there."


July 2, 2015: “Day 97. Good night, Moon.”